Justice for Agathon Rwasa responsible for the massacre of the banyamulenge in Gatumba/Burundi 2004.

Two days after the massacre at the Gatumba Refugee Camp in Burundi, Burundian Hutu militia leader Agathon Rwasa openly claimed responsibility over The French International Radio, RIF. Belgian lawyer Philip Reytens called Rwasa on the phone and asked him if he was the one responsible. Rwasa proudly admitted, “Yes, I am responsible for killing the Banyamulenge in the camp.”
Why has this man not been brought to justice? I ask all those who read this, and the international community as a whole, to help bring this man to justice. I believe that Agathon Rwasa lives in Burundi. The survivors of the massacre cannot find peace or security while he is living free in the same country.

When will he be brought to justice for these crimes? If he and the organization responsible for the massacre in 2004 are not held accountable, they will be able to commit atrocities such as this again in the future.
Nearly five years have passed since the 2004 massacre in Gatumba. Why the silence about continued injustices towards the Banyamulenge? Why has the international community not done anything to stop this violence and redress these human rights violations?

Twenty-One Banyamulenge Unjustly Jailed in Kenya Since Sept. 5, 2008

This post is about twenty-one young Banyamulenge men, ages 25-28, who are being held in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. They lived in the Bundabu or Kakuma camps in Kenya, among other refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo. There were also many refugees of the Bembe ethnic group. Relations between the two ethnic groups in the camps are strained, and some Bembe have said they no longer wish to live in the same camps with the Banyamulenge.
In the Nairobi camp Kakuma, the Bembe are the majority and also part of the staff. Sensing the possibility of a revolt by the Bembe, the Banyamulenge minority in the camps felt that the only alternative was to evacuate the camps and find safety elsewhere. A group of 21 young men went to the offices of the UN High Council of Refugees, where they thought they would be protected. However, they were arrested by Kenyan police and put in jail.
This group of 21 Banyamulenge men has become well-known in Kenya. These men have committed no crime, and their imprisonment is a violation of their human rights.
Banyamulenge have suffered from violence and displacement from their homes in Congo, been massacred at refugee camps in Burundi, and are now being imprisoned in Kenya. What indignity is next?
The Banyamulenge have been scattered to different countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa. We cannot return home without being murdered, and we live as refugees in countries where we are not wanted.
First, it was in Congo; yesterday it was in Burundi in the Gatumba refugee camp in 2004. Today it is in Kenya that the Banyamulenge are undergoing imprisonment without access to attorneys; and tomorrow it will be elsewhere.

WHY THE BANYAMULENGE CAME TO BE MASSACRED WITHOUT PROTECTION OR CENSURE

The banyamulenge,like other person ,are Congolese who speak the language of same Rwandese and are found in various provinces in congo .the have been a majority for man centuries in the regions of South Kivu ,they are ethnic Tutsi.

The banyamulenge know exclusion and persecution ,both police and social, as well as cyclic massacres which continue even to day.
This martyrdom in particular originates from the muleliste era using the same ideology which identifies peoples by during the muleliste period from 1964 until the refugee camps in Burundi in 2004,the banyamulenge people experienced years of misery due to bad political situations .

Even to day, the banyamulenge continue to undergo slaughters in Congo, Burundi and Kenya.
They young people continue to be imprisoned reason only for being munyamulenge the case to denounce these events which are currently occurring in Burundi.
Those who speak out against this violence and injustice are quickly punished
More than five young banyamulenge three months go are currently imprisoned for absolutely nothing except according to the Burundian police officers, they do not have identification.

We should not remain silent about this violence against our people and the perpetrators of these crimes are brought to justice.
When we ask both national and international organization to protect banyamulenge in country great lakes.

ABDALLAH AND THE ORPHANS OF GATUMBA MASSACRE

This is Abdallah, born in Congo in the city of Kinshasa grew up in the same city.
Is married to a women and the father of two children: one boy and one girl.
In 1998 war came to Congo again the banyamulenge, who have always been the object of war in Congo
He was threatened the by the soldiers of the former called KATA NYAMA (CUT THE MEAT) of the government of MOBUTU , He will be a prisoner for many days because he collaborates with the banyamulenges at times and he resembles the banyamulenges ,during this period he war caused her to be separated from this children .

After a few days ,he was liberated along with some members of his family because the American government had allowed them to immigrate to the USA ,they transferred to a refugee camp in CAMEROUN where they meet with other banyamulenge coming to congo ,who where from different regions of congo like (buji-mayi,eastern kasayi the survivors of the massacres in Lumbubashi ,kisangani etc)

After six months ,the American government accepted our immigration to the united states,abdallah was relocated to California with his wife and his older sister ,who has two children of her own.
As the years went by the family adapter to American life and culture, in 2006, he received his American citizenship.

After four years, he had the opportunity to bring one of his children, his son, over to America. But his daughter remains in Congo. Even though he is an American citizen, he doesn’t have peace in his heart being so far away from this daughter.

When my family and I arrived in California in 2007, Abdallah took us under his wing. He did everything from helping to translate at the hospital to taking us on walks around our new neighborhood.

Abdullah asked us to tell him about the situation which happened in the refugee camps in Burundi, because he had been hearing about it on the radio since the year it happened, but up until now he did not know the whole story.
We told how we were saved in the massacre of Kalemie, Congo and of the refugee camp Gatumba/Burundi in 2004.
And how we have left many children orphaned and many handicapped.
Abdallah, taken with emotion, cried for these children left behind by the dirty massacre by the Congolese military, the FNL, the Mai-Mai and the interahamwe.
He took it upon himself to return to Burundi.

. We congratulate Mr. Abdallah for his love and his courage to leave California and go to Africa to see the children orphaned in the massacre of Gatumba/Burundi.

We ask any person who has the means to please think of the orphaned children who are suffering in Burundi – help them to continue their studies.

Speech given in the Christian Cathedral of church in Oakland by Jean-Claude on August, 13, 2007

Hello. In the name of all the escaped victims of Gatumba who now find themselves in America and in the name of my family, we are grateful for the actions of United States government. We deeply thank you for your great generosity in allowing us to come and live in your country.
We thank the International Refugee Commission, the IRC, for helping us to get settled and begin getting accustomed to life in the US. Last but not least, thank you to the Cathedral for giving us this opportunity to commemorate this day. Finally, our sincere thanks are addressed to the various volunteers who have helped us during these past four months.
Our people were massacred. At the Gatumba Refugee Camp in Burundi, where my family and I lived, one hundred sixty six people were killed and 117 were wounded.
On the night of Friday the 13th of August, 2004, at 10:00 pm, we were attacked by the Mayi -Mayi, or the FAC, the Congolese Armed Forces, the Interahamwe of Rwanda and the FNL, the National Front for Liberating Burundi. They came beating drums and singing "Hallelujah"
They then threw exploding grenades, fire bombs, and other explosives which set fire to the canvas tents. One hundred and sixty six refugees were massacred and one hundred and six were wounded, children, women and men alike. The majority of the victims were killed by being burned alive. It is especially tragic that these men, women, and children lost their lives in a country where they were refugees, a place of supposed safety where they were being protected. We will never again forget the night of August 13, 2004.
To end, we ask:
-To give justice to all the survivors of Gatumba by creating an International Tribunal to bring those responsible AGATHON RWASA for the massacre to justice.
-That the international community intervene for the survival of the Banyamulenge minority from Congo who remain there at this time.
-To officially name August 13 or 14th as an International Day of Remembrance each year, and as a memory of a great violation of human rights in the Gatumba camp, a crime against humanity.
-To morally assist the escaped victims that now find themselves in the USA, because they have lost almost all their foundations for life.

Chantal’s Near Escape from Two Massacres in Congo

I was just three inches a way from being killed.

It was the night of August 13, 2004 in Gatumba. On this night, many innocent women, children, and men were killed.

When I was young, I narrowly escaped two massacres in Gatumba and Kalemie, which targeted the Banyamulenge people.

I could do nothing but pray to God to save me and my people.

I just couldn’t believe where my life had taken me. At that time, I thought, you just feel like you’re waiting to die.

This was the fourth time in recent years that a massacre happened to my people. Even today, there has been no justice.

Even though they happened when I was young, I can remember the terrible things that happened to my people, the massacres in Congo at Kalemie and Vyura, and at the Burundian refugee camp in Gatumba.

I leaned to trust in God, and asked Him to send me and my family to America. Then the greatest thing happened.

Since I arrived in the US, I have shared these stories of my people with friends, cousins, and teachers. My brother, Jean-Claude, has made contact with different NGOs in California, trying to spread the word about the humanitarian crisis taking place in Congo and Burundi. It’s a terrible to explain what has happened to the Banyamulenge during these massacres.”

Thank you to the readers of this bog for learning the truth about the Banyamulenge. I hope that one day you will read the book that my brother is writing about the Banyamulenge during the Muleliste reign of terror from 1964 to 2004.

I pray daily for the grace to forgive those who killed my father, my uncle, family members, and all my people that I knew and loved.

My family and I have received a very warm welcome in the United States by the IRC [the International Refugee Commission)

Four days after arriving, I began high school at Skyline High in Oakland. I was placed in the 10th grade (despite the fact that I was an 11th grader in Burundi!). I have made many friends at school and near our home. Some of them are American, and many others come from Africa like us.

Apart from my classes at school, I have taken classes in photography at the IRC. In three months, I will earn a certificate in photography.

I am proud to be a photographer. One day, I would like to go back to my country and take pictures of my hometown and the beautiful countryside around it.

A year ago, a volunteer named Matthew began coming to the house to tutor me and my older sister in English. He is helping me learn to speak English well, like an American. This will help me continue my studies and have a good job one day.

He comes to the house each Tuesday and Thursday evening. One time, we asked him to take us into the city of San Francisco, and we went together and visited the city and some beautiful parks.

12/07/08 chantal survivors